With half of the United States dealing with a deep freeze, we figured this would be a great time to debut The David Mann Chopperfest. The Chopperfest celebrated their tenth year in existence and this year was jam packed with bikes, art, vendors and an awesome crowd. The day always starts off the same, cold with lingering marine layer and then the sun finally breaks through. Hundreds of brave riders made the trek in the bitter 30 degree weather, but everyone I talked to said the same thing "The ride was beautiful!” 

The main focus of the show is “If you build it, they will come,” and boy did they. Over 200 custom motorcycles entered the show for the opportunity to win a custom one-off trophy. Every year event coordinator, Tory DuVarney, seeks brands that can work together and produce an awesome award. This year was a no brainer; Biltwell Inc. offers a stellar helmet line, which became the base of the trophy and the very talented Sonny Boy and Pacman hand lettered and hand painted each helmet. They absolutely killed it!

The Art and Culture Show expanded to the Santa Rosa Hall due to its massive growth. Over 70 artists came together to showcase their works. There were no boundaries and every medium was welcomed and celebrated. Attendees were able to check out David Mann originals and meet his wife Jacquie. Big Dave Hansen, who is an art major and was David Mann's manager, is the curator of the David Mann & Friends Art Exhibit, as well as the show's director.

Big Dave and Tory asked a few of their friends to bring their popular art shows to the exhibit. Anna Marco, senior feature editor of Ol' Skool Rodz and Car Kulture Deluxe, curated the Soul:The Art & Culture of Motorcycles exhibit. Another great addition was the Oil and Water Show, curated by James Banuelos, co-owner of Us Versus Them. Chris Callen, editor of Cycle Source Magazine, curated the Back Yard art exhibit and brought east coast artists Richie Pan, Darren McKeag, George the Painter and Seth Leibowitz with him. The vision of bringing art, custom cars, motorcycles, surf, and tattoo artists together was well received and the caliber of art was top notch!

Tory cross promotes with many companies to take Chopperfest to the next level. This was very evident with the Best of Show Award presented by the Born-Free Show. Some folks scratched their heads at this promotion not fully understanding its benefits. Co-founders, Mike Davis and Grant Peterson came aboard this year to show the motorcycle community that we can support each other's events and work together. Chopperfest has always welcomed Born-Free and Tory was thrilled to have them involved. John Edwards took home the coveted award and the big ass check of $2500.00. He’s also being honored at Born-Free 6 as a special guest, so be sure to visit his booth during their show!

My hands were pretty full manning the DB Custom Leather / ChopCult booth and handling the social media for Chopperfest and ChopCult. During the event, I reached out to our community to get a fellow rider back on the road. Within twenty minutes, many followers stepped up to the plate and helped us acquire the needed parts to get Jeff taken care of. This small act of kindness showed non-believers that ChopCult is a community and we take care of our own. Big thanks to all involved!

I would like to thank Jessica Stopnik for capturing the Chopperfest for us. Grab a cold beer or hot chocolate, depending on where you are veiwing this and enjoy the show!

Here’s a list of the winners and as you can see all bikes are welcomed!

California Bobber

1st Chuck Vernon 1918 Indian Power Plus

2nd Les Covington 1950 HD WL

3rd Roger Herbison 1936 Indian Chief

Old Skool Skooter

1st Paul Ponkow 1950 Panhead

2nd Paul Ponkow 1946 Knucklehead Trike

3rd Scott Howard 1948 Panhead

Antique

1st Leroy Yoder 1926 Henderson Deluxe

2nd Pat Taylor 48 HD UL

3rd Roger Herbison 1936 Indian Chief

Modern Bobber

1st Ray Sweeten 2013 Softail Rigid

2nd Nedr 97 HD Softail

3rd Alan Beaty 2000 Sportster

Rat Bike

1st Mitch Urban 65 HD Electroglide

2nd Davey Cooperwasser 53 HD FL

3rd Levi Martinez 78 Suzuki GS-750

Metric Chopper

1st Duane Ballard 81 KZ Kawasaki 1000

2nd Mike Basuro 84 Kawasaki 1000

3rd Curtis Sorenson 78 Honda CB750

Koolest Paint

1st Paul Ponkow 73 Triumph Bonneville

2nd Dalton Walker 84 Evo

3rd Sean Murry 70 Triumph Bonneville

Radical Design

1st White Mike 70 HD Shovel

2nd Josh Morrow 66 Triumph / Sportster

3rd Shannon McKnight 07

Evo Bagger

1st Andy Marsh 63 FLH

2nd Mitch Urban 65 Electroglide

3rd Jim Tietz 08 HD Ultra

Big Twin

1st Ron 94 FXR

2nd Mo Moscouitz 2001 NightTrain

3rd Marty Seagraves 2013 HD Softail

Sportster

1st Jake Weesman 62 Sportster

2nd Asian Dan 99 Sportster

3rd Keith D'Ambrosio 72 Sportster

British

1st Paul Ponkow 73 Triumph Bonneville

2nd Sean Murry 70 Triumph Bonneville

3rd Steve Jarvis 52 Triumph Trophy

Special Construction

1st Dalton Walker 84 Evo

2nd Illusion Hellraiser 2011 Pan

3rd Pat Thai 79 Yamaha XS-650

Best Knucklehead - Sayer Cedillo 37 Knuckle

Best Panhead - Ryan Cox 48 Pan

Best Shovel - Noise Cycles 68 Shovel

Best of Show - John Edwards 59 FLH

David Mann Memorial Award - Les Covington 49 FL

Ol Skool Rodz Magazine Best Bike - Jake Wreesman 62 Sportster

Iron Works Magazine Award - Ron Baldanado 46 HD Flathead

We look forward to working with Tory, his dad Dave, and their amazing team in 2014. For show information, please check their website, http://www.chopperfestival.com/ and give them a follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/chopperfestival and Instagram http://instagram.com/chopperfest.